AARP to lawmakers: Constituents will hear about votes on utility-rates bill

The older-Americans lobbying group AARP issued a warning to Iowa lawmakers this morning: their votes on a controversial utility-rate bill could show up in the constituents’ mailboxes and on their TVs this fall.

A Senate committee last week moved forward on the bill, House File 561, which could allow electric utility companies to charge customers for costs associated with the development of a new nuclear power plant in the state.

AARP strongly opposes the proposal on the grounds that it could raise rates for seniors on low or fixed incomes while providing no immediate benefits in additional power generation. The bill is now in position for a vote on the Senate floor and, subsequently, a vote in the House that would send it to Gov. Terry Branstad.

Seeking to make lawmakers think twice about supporting the bill, AARP announced this morning it would designate consideration of the bill a “key vote” – meaning the organization will launch an informational campaign telling its 378,000 members and other Iowans how individual lawmakers voted.

“We will be educating and informing our members of how all Iowa state senators and Iowa state representatives vote on what we think we think is a critical bill during the 2012 Iowa General Assembly session,” said AARP state director Kent Sovern.

That “education” effort would play out through “various communications channels,” according to a press release accompanying the AARP announcement.

“What we can do is communicate to lawmakers that we’re going to make every effort prior to the vote and then even subsequent to the vote to tell Iowans what the bill does and then … how people voted on this issue,” said Anthony Carroll, an AARP lobbyist.

As soon as the legislative session ends this year, many lawmakers will immediately turn their attention to reelection campaigns later this year – campaigns that almost certainly could be impacted by AARP’s outreach efforts.

AARP member Maryalice Larson, of Marshalltown compared the bill’s provisions to an offer from a car dealer to charge a customer a monthly payment on a new car for several years while only promising to maybe deliver a more fuel-efficient vehicle sometime in the future.

“That’s what House File 561 proposes – that Iowans pay upfront for something they may never receive,” Larson said. She added, “It’s a bad deal for Iowans.”